Isn't everything supposed to be bigger in Texas?

Drew is NOT bigger, lol. He only lost 3lbs, but he is SKINNY. Maybe it is the fact that his uniform actually fits him, rather than baggy pants and flowing button up shirts.

Check out his tiny little waist!

There are so many things about this weekend that I want to remember. I am going to try to get them all down so I don't forget. We are getting very little sleep, so the memory is failing a bit, lol. You know the military, get up early, hurry up and wait.

The first morning we got up and got to the base about 7:15 am with the little ones all bright-eyed and bushy tailed. OK, Sam slept sitting up in the chair at the breakfast table, lol. He wasn't getting up for anything.

We got there for the looooong briefing, which I cried through, of course.

Then we all were rushed outside to get in line along the road, after being instructed in how to conduct ourselves.

"It is appropriate to cheer on the airmen as they run by, but do not go chasing your airmen down the road. You laugh, but someone always does."

Then we got to stand there and...... wait.

After 1/2 an hour Chariots of Fire started playing the the airmen started coming over the bridge in the distance. It was so corny! But I started crying anyway. I did not see Drew, but this picture is his flight.

We were able to go back to the hotel for a few hours before coming back for his coin ceremony. We were told where his flight would be standing so we could get close enough to see him. This picture of Drew off in the background, bright red in the hot Texas sun, was on super telescope to see just that little bit of him.

I lifted Trinity up and showed her where he was. When I put her down she hugged my leg and said "Mommy, I am so proud of you for showing me Drew."

Later she said she didn't like me about a dozen times. She hates being here.

This is Drew's flight marching into the coin ceremony.

After the ceremony the airmen stood still until their family came and touched them. I went after him while Donnie kept the kids out of the running, sobbing masses.

Yes, I was one of them. I cried through the entire coin ceremony until I got to hug my son. But then I was fine. Until the next ceremony, of course.

Drew was happy to see us, but was very professional, as he was trained to be.

Makes a mommy's heart so proud!

After we were finally allowed to spend time with Drew, we had to figure out what we COULD do, because we were stuck on base. Drew was not yet graduated and could not leave base.

So we took the kids to a big park. It was fun for the kids and wore their butts right out!

Drew spent time talking to all the kids as long as they wanted, except Devon, who was at swim practice.

Here is Donnie and Drew at the park.

Drew could only talk on the phone when we was not walking. He really had fun talking with everyone.

During the day Samuel developed some bowel issues and messed up his pants. I had not brought a change of clothes with me, and we soon went through all the diapers and wipes I had brought in the travel diaper bag.

Another mom at the park watched Sam walk up to the park all dressed up, minus pants, and she just laughed and laughed. She was pregnant with her sixth child, and we had a good chat. When she was leaving, she came and found me and gave me several diapers and a pack of wipes and told me to enjoy my visit with my son, and not worry about my diaper bag today. I was so blessed by her! And the wipes came in very handy with Trinity's multiple bloody noses at the park. I never want to forget her kindness.

Sam didn't really have the time of day for Drew at all. Poor Drew! He just missed Sam so much!

But when we were dropping Drew off Samuel started crying "Whyyyyyyyy? Whyyyyyy? Dew! Whyyyyyyy???" It was adorable! Then he passed out cold. He was so tired.
Now, I am going out of order here, because I want to do the graduation ceremony in a separate post. But here is an adorable picture of Trinity and Drew on the bus after his graduation ceremony.

She is happy to see Drew, but for the most part both she and Samuel just want to go home. They hate being here.

As you can see, we switched to winter coats for the second day. It was FREEZING!!! No more 80 degree weather to enjoy.

Samuel did enjoy seeing Drew's dorm and playing with his gloves and flashlight. In fact, the first day Samuel broke Drew's flashlight, so Drew had to make an emergency run to the BX to replace the bulb!

This is Sam, being an Warrior, like his brother.

All he needed here was the flashlight with it's light saber-like wand so he would be ready to fight. LOL

The picture I had in this post of Drew and I disappeared, and I do NOT want to mess with getting it back in, since I had to get out of bed at 2am in order to be able to even write this post, lol. I will do that next post. Sam is crying for mommy to come back to bed.